As I have written before, perhaps the greatest contribution the Bitcoin experiment will make to humankind is to teach you and me and our neighbors more about the realities of economics. Many of the ideas about how to mine Bitcoins, store Bitcoins, and trade with Bitcoins as a medium of exchange illustrate both the strengths and weaknesses of any other medium of exchange in a world full of human beings seeking personal advantage. Seeing the discussion of Bitcoins here on Hacker News reminds me of the last time that the price of gold (in United States dollars) crashed, and the arguments beforehand that such an occurrence was impossible, for instance. "The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent" is still an important principle of investment. Anyone could make a steady increase of wealth trading in almost any commodity, if only one could time the market. The trick with Bitcoin trading as with all forms of commodity trading is to somehow outsmart most other investors and time the market better than everyone else who trades Bitcoins. Good luck with that.
AFTER EDIT:
See a somewhat related story with interesting comments
"perhaps the greatest contribution the Bitcoin experiment will make to humankind is to teach you and me and our neighbors more about the realities of economics"
I most certainly wish this was the case, however the cycle of booms and busts rarely teach anyone anything. Think about how they were documented in the 1800s, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds specifically, they STILL teach that book in plenty of schools, and yet the same idiots believe this time, things'll be different.
AFTER EDIT:
See a somewhat related story with interesting comments
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4391312
posted on Hacker News today.